All Forum Posts by: Mark Bosworth

Financing leverages both your return and your risk.  Most of the people I know who have had really bad real estate experiences got upside down on loans, could not pay or refinance and ended up losing all their equity.  On the other side, if you can use other people's money to increase your yield, then it makes great sense.  Use financing.... but be careful out there.  :)

In some real estate markets, it is customary for the movable appliances (refrigerator, washer/dryer) to be part of the sale.  In others they are taken by the seller.  You might want to check to see what is customary in your market before you buy the refrigerator. 

You should contact the owner. If the owner contacts the bank and says he has an interested buyer, then you and the owner can negotiate a short sale with the bank. The bank would rather avoid a Sheriff's Sale. Just be prepared that the bank will probably list it on the MLS to try and generate additional buyers.

Hi David,

I have a simple question about bandit signs.  How legal are they?  I'm guessing that if you put them on someone's private land then they will take them down.  What about posting on public land?  

Do you ever get a call from someone telling you that you can't put them out?

Thanks!

Mark

Very easy. I sold a condo FSBO and the agent that showed it put the contract together for us. I never even got a lawyer involved in the sale. Paid 3% to the selling agent and saved the seller's commission.

@Travis Hamilton

I'm in the process of bidding on one right now.  I'll let you know if I get it.  

Before the auction ended I wanted to know if I should factor in a "surprise" factor in the closing process. My experience with REO properties is that they do everything they can to tilt the deal in their favor. And you frequently find out about it once you are in the middle of the deal. So I've gotten a copy of their standard contract and was trying to understand their closing process. I did pay for an inspection on the property I'm bidding on because there is no inspection contingency. (It is unoccupied)

Does anyone have experience on closing on a Homesearch property in Florida?  I'm bidding on a property and expect them to select a non-local title company to close with. So I'm wondering if I should close with their company or choose my own.

If you've closed on a Florida property with them, who did they want to use as a title company?  

Did you go with their company or decide to choose your own and pay for the transaction?

If you used their company were you happy with the service?  

Any issues getting title insurance?

Any advice would be appreciated!!

Thanks

Hi Ping,

That is about what I got for a quote on a similar project.  My quote was about $500 for a three month policy.  The quotes I got on a vacant house policy would not accept monthly payments and wanted either a three or six month term. 

David,

We used the standard Florida real estate contract.  Chase just went through and crossed out all of the "seller pays" items.  The deal fell apart on the inspection because of hidden defects.  I learned not to assume the lender will pick up any closing costs.

Hi All,

I'm in the process of buying an REO from Chase. After waiting a month and a half they have finally gotten their contract to me. In the contract, they have crossed out all of the normal fees that the seller usually pays (doc fees, title insurance, title search, etc) and shifted them over to the buyer (me). Obviously, this has a significant impact on the profitability of the deal and has me considering just backing out.

So a couple of questions:

- Is this a normal part of buying a REO, where the bank shifts all the normal sellers costs over to the buyer? ie, is it something that you should just bake into your financial analysis when you buy one of these?

-  If anyone else has been in this situation, did you get the bank to back down and take their share of the costs?  Or is this just a bank "policy" and something they will not move on? 

And to make it better, they are playing games right in the Christmas vacation time period!

Thanks for your help!!